Anti-Rollover Infant Sleep Garment

ABSTRACT

A wearable garment for maintaining an infant in the supine position while sleeping is disclosed. The garment includes a body for holding an infant, first and second pockets, first and second support pads insertable in the first and second pockets, and means for preventing the unintentional removal of the support pads from the pockets.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates generally to protective infant devices andmore specifically, to a wearable anti-rollover garment for keeping aninfant in the supine position.

Keeping the infants in the supine position is a new tool in the fight toprevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (“SIDS”). SIDS is the sudden andunexplained death of an infant who is younger than one year old. It is afrightening prospect because it can strike without warning, usually in aseemingly healthy infant. In fact, SIDS is the leading cause of death inhealthy babies after one month of age. Most SIDS deaths are associatedwith sleep, and infants who die of SIDS show no signs of suffering. SIDSis responsible for roughly 0.05%, or 50 deaths per 100,000 births in theU.S.

Although there has been little understanding of the syndrome'sbiological cause or causes, studies have identified several risk factorsfor SIDS. Foremost among these risk factors is stomach sleeping.Numerous studies have found a higher incidence of SIDS among babiesplaced on their stomachs to sleep than among those sleeping on theirbacks or sides. Some researchers have hypothesized that stomach sleepingputs pressure on a child's jaw, therefore narrowing the airway andhampering breathing.

Another theory is that stomach sleeping can increase an infant's risk ofrebreathing his or her own exhaled air, particularly if the infant issleeping on a soft mattress or with bedding, stuffed toys, or a pillownear the face. In this scenario, the soft surface could create a smallenclosure around the baby's mouth and trap exhaled air. As the babybreathes exhaled air, the oxygen level in the body drops and carbondioxide accumulates. Eventually, this lack of oxygen could contribute toSIDS.

Therefore, sleeping on the back has been recommended for some time toavoid SIDS. In fact, the incidence of SIDS cases have droppedsignificantly since the American Academy of Pediatrics rolled out their“Back to Sleep” campaign. To this end, several attempts have been aimedat preventing infants from rolling over on their stomachs whilesleeping. However, these prior art attempts at maintaining infants in asupine position suffer from several disadvantages. For example, one ofthe prior art attempts involves a wearable harness having supports formaintaining infants in the supine position. However, these supports aredetached from the garment worn by the infant. Because the supports canbe easily separated from the garment, it is likely that the infant canroll over onto its stomach while sleeping.

SUMMARY

A wearable anti-rollover garment for infants solving at least one ormore problems associated with the prior art is disclosed. According toone exemplary embodiment, the wearable garment for maintaining an infantin the supine position includes a body, pockets attached to the body,foam pads insertable in the pockets for maintaining an infant in asupine position, and straps for preventing the inadvertent removal ofthe foam pads from the pockets. Pockets provide a superior method forremovably integrating the pads directly into an infant sleeping garment,while enabling their easy removal in order to wash the garment orotherwise carry the child.

In another exemplary embodiment, the garment has sleeves for the wearer,and the garment body includes either a singular sack or separate legportions. The body of the garment is opened and closed by using eitherzippers, clamps, clasps, hook and loop strips, buttons or the like.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective drawing showing one exemplary embodiment of ananti-rollover garment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective drawing showing another exemplary embodiment ofan anti-rollover garment.

FIG. 3 is a frontal view of the exemplary embodiment of theanti-rollover garment of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the exemplary embodiment of the anti-rollovergarment of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

In the following description, like numbers refer to like elements.

Referring now to the figures and in particular FIG. 1, a first exemplaryembodiment of the invention is illustrated as wearable infantanti-rollover garment 10. The garment 10 includes a body 12, pockets 14Aand 14B, support straps 16, a zipper 18, pocket closing straps 20A and20B and foam pads 22A and 22B. Pockets 14A and 14B are securely attachedto the body 12. For example, in one embodiment, the pockets 14A and 14Bcan be sewn directly to the body 12 using standard sewing practices tocreate a strong seam between the body 12 and the pockets 14A and 14B.This prevents the pockets from being removed. Alternatively, the pockets14A and 14B can be attached to the body 12 using buttons, string,buckles, clamps, clasps, adhesives, hook and loop strips, tape and thelike. One skilled in the art will recognize that by securely attachingthe pockets 14A and 14B to the body 12, the pockets 14A and 14B willhave a greater likelihood of remaining in place and thus, will not beinadvertently separated from the body as can occur with prior artdevices.

The body 12 further includes support straps 16 through which theinfant's arms are placed. A zipper 18 for opening and closing the body12 is disclosed in FIG. 1. The opening-closing mechanism 18 can also bein the form of clamps, clasps, hook and loop strips, buttons or anyother suitable method for opening and closing the body.

Attached to the pockets 14A and 14B are pocket closing straps 20A and20B. The pocket closing straps 20A and 20B are designed to prevent foampads 22A and 22B from being inadvertently removed from pockets 14A and14B. While FIG. 1 shows straps 20A and 20B for closing pockets 14A and14B, alternatively, foam pads 22A and 22B can be secured in the pockets14A and 14B using zippers, clamps, clasps, hook and loop strips, buttonsand the like.

Foam pads are inserted into pockets 14A and 14B and secured in thepockets 14A and 14B using straps 20A and 20B. When inserted in thepockets 14A and 14B, foam pads 22A and 22B provide support forpreventing an infant from rolling over, and thus, maintains the infantin the supine position. In lieu of using foam for pads 22A and 22B, thepads 22A and 22B can be constructed of any type of sufficiently firmmaterial, capable of firmly maintaining the position of the infant'sbody. Additionally, pads 22A and 22B can be bags for holding water, sandor other material capable of maintaining the position of the infant'sbody when inserted into pockets 14A and 14B.

Referring now to FIGS. 2-4, a second exemplary embodiment of ananti-rollover garment 100 is disclosed. The garment 100 is comprised ofa body 120, pockets 140A and 140B, shoulder straps 160, a zipper 180,pocket closing straps 200, foam pads 220A and 220B and rubber pads 240Aand 240B. In this exemplary embodiment, body 120 contains separateportions for the insertion of an infant's legs in the body 120 ofgarment 100. Further, shoulder straps 160 can be replaced with fullsleeves which keep the infant warm in colder environments.

Rubber pads 240A and 240B are included on the body 120 to preventinfants from sliding in their rest area while wearing the garment 100.Rubber pads 240A and 240B are releaseably attached to the body 120 withthe use of zippers, clamps, clasps, hook and loop strips, buttons orother suitable means for attaching materials together. Alternatively,rubber pads 240A and 240B can be composed of any material suitable toprevent infants from sliding while wearing the garment 100. Althoughshown in FIG. 4 as oval-shaped, the pads 240A and 240B can also be inany geometric shape and still prevent infants from sliding in their restarea.

The foregoing description is of an exemplary and preferred embodimentsemploying at least in part certain teachings of the invention. Theinvention, as defined by the appended claims, is not limited to thedescribed embodiments. Alterations and modifications to the disclosedembodiments may be made without departing from the invention. Themeaning of the terms used in this specification are, unless expresslystated otherwise, intended to have ordinary and customary meaning andare not intended to be limited to the details of the illustratedstructures or the disclosed embodiments.

1. A garment for maintaining an infant in a supine position: a body forholding an infant; at least first and second pockets attached to thebody; at least first and second support pads insertable in the at leastfirst and second pockets; and at least first and second straps formaintaining the at least first and second support pads within the firstand second pockets.
 2. The garment of claim 1, wherein the body furtherincludes sleeves attached to the body.
 3. The garment of claim 1,wherein the body further includes separate lower portions for theinsertion of an infant's legs.
 4. The garment of claim 1, wherein thebody further comprises an opening and closing mechanism for holding theinfant in the body of the garment.
 5. The garment of claim 1, whereinthe at least first and second support pads are comprised of a firmmaterial capable of preventing an infant from rolling over.
 6. Thegarment of claim 1, wherein the body further comprises at least one padfor preventing the body from sliding or slipping while being worn. 7.The garment of claim 6, wherein the at least one pad can be anygeometric shape.
 8. A wearable anti-rollover garment, comprising: meansfor holding an infant; means for preventing the body of the garment fromrotating attached to the means for holding the body of an infant,wherein the means for preventing the body of the garment from rotatingincludes at least first and second pockets capable of receiving at leastfirst and second support means; and means for securing the at leastfirst and second support means within the means for preventing the bodyfrom rotating.
 9. The garment of claim 8, wherein the means for holdingan infant further comprises means for supporting the infant's upper andlower body portions.
 10. The garment of claim 8, wherein the furthersupport means are foam pads.
 11. The garment of claim 8, wherein thefurther support means are comprised of a firm material capable ofpreventing an infant from rolling over.
 12. The garment of claim 8,wherein the means for securing the support means within the means forpreventing the body from rotating are straps.
 13. The garment of claim8, further comprising a means for preventing the anti-rollover garmentfrom sliding while being worn.
 14. A garment for regulating the movementof a garment wearer, comprising; means for supporting the body of thegarment wearer; and means for restricting the torsional rotation of thegarment wearer attached to the means for supporting the body of thegarment wearer.
 15. The garment of claim 14, further including meansinsertable inside the means for restricting the torsional rotation ofthe garment wearer capable of holding a material for restricting thetorsional rotation of the garment wearer.
 16. The garment of claim 14,wherein the means insertable inside the means for restricting thetorsional rotation of the wearer includes bags capable of holding one ofany type of various weighted materials.
 17. The garment of claims 16,wherein one of any type of various weighted materials include sand. 18.The garment of claims 16, wherein one of any type of various weightedmaterials include water.